A multi-acquirer approach benefits merchants – and acquirers…

One of the best things in business is when everyone benefits! Our most recent white paper explains why a multi-acquirer approach isn’t just good for merchants – it helps acquirers too. 

Most payments professionals are well aware that cross-border payments – especially online – are growing fast. By 2030, strategists expect cross-border payments to reach US$ 280 billion¹, representing growth of more than 10 percent annually. Over the same period, we can also expect to see consumer demand for smooth, secure and rapid payments grow: the most recent studies suggest three-quarters of consumers (74%) will use instant payment where it’s available, while almost eight in ten (79%) say they prefer to shop online with merchants they know to be secure².  

As we show in our new white paper, a multi-acquirer strategy is the best way to deliver both optimal user experiences and back-end efficiencies across a wide range of payment types and geographies – whether you’re a merchant or an acquirer. As Chris Jones, Managing Director of PSE Consulting, puts it in our white paper: “ The reasons why most of our enterprise clients have multiple acquirer relationships come down to market reach, cost, and technical resilience.” 

Adopting a multi-acquirer strategy allows merchants to leverage the strengths of numerous payment processors, streamline their operations and minimise the risks associated with relying on just one partner. It may sound obvious, but having relationships with multiple acquirers also means that merchants are in a stronger position to negotiate fees to their advantage, since they are not “wedded” to the pricing schedules of a single company.  

In addition, the flexibility of a multi-acquirer approach means that if one acquirer experiences technical issues, transactions can be automatically routed to another, ensuring uninterrupted payment processing and no service outages. Approaches to authorisation also improve: by using multiple acquirers with different approval criteria and market strengths, merchants can increase the likelihood of successful transactions. 

It's all about choice – and flexibility 

“Merchants win when they give themselves more options.”

In “How to keep your customer in a multi-acquirer world”, we show how merchants can optimise costs by working with multiple acquirers, since they can route transactions to the acquirer with the lowest fees based on transaction type, card network, or geographic location. Likewise, merchants can improve their fraud protection by monitoring chargeback patterns across multiple acquirers, identifying potential fraud patterns with particular acquirers and adjusting their routing strategies accordingly.  

Fundamentally, the decision to work with several acquiring firms comes down to choice and flexibility. Whether it’s better fraud protection, improved authorisation rates or catering to different regional payment preferences, merchants win when they give themselves a wider range of options. When it comes to the fast-growing category of cross-border transactions, merchants can cater to the diverse needs of customers across many geographies by access a range of regional payment networks through different acquirers.  

If this sounds a little one-sided, it’s worth remembering the benefits of a multi-acquirer approach for acquirers themselves, as we show in our white paper. These include the ability to rapidly modernise their technology stacks and gain access to greater processing power, new payment types and geographies. Working with other acquirers also gives an acquiring firm more options to improve client transaction authorisations, ensure they have the best anti-fraud approach, and are up to date with both national and international regulations.  

As consumer expectations of convenient, fast and secure payments online, in-person and across borders grow, adopting a multi-acquirer strategy starts to look less like an option and more like a business-critical decision for merchants. For acquirers themselves, a multi-acquirer strategy through payments orchestration sharpens their competitive edge and makes them fit for the future. 

Download our new white paper now for more on how multi-acquirer approaches benefit both merchants and acquirers: